Egyptian husbands will soon be legally allowed to have sex with their dead wives – for up to six hours after their death.

The controversial new law is part of a raft of measures being introduced by the Islamist-dominated parliament.

It will also see the minimum age of marriage lowered to 14 and the ridding of women’s rights of getting education and employment.

Egypt’s National Council for Women is campaigning against the changes, saying that ‘marginalising and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country’s human development’.

Dr Mervat al-Talawi, head of the NCW, wrote to the Egyptian People’s Assembly Speaker Dr Saad al-Katatni addressing her concerns.

Egyptian journalist Amro Abdul Samea reported in the al-Ahram newspaper that Talawi complained about the legislations which are being introduced under ‘alleged religious interpretations’.

The subject of a husband having sex with his dead wife arose in May 2011 when Moroccan cleric Zamzami Abdul Bari said marriage remains valid even after death.

He also said that women have the right to have sex with her dead husband, alarabiya.net reported.

It seems the topic, which has sparked outrage, has now been picked up on by Egypt’s politicians.

TV anchor Jaber al-Qarmouty slammed the notion of letting a husband have sex with his wife after her death under the so-called ‘Farewell Intercourse’ draft law.

He said: ‘This is very serious. Could the panel that will draft the Egyptian constitution possibly discuss such issues? Did Abdul Samea see by his own eyes the text of the message sent by Talawi to Katatni?

‘This is unbelievable. It is a catastrophe to give the husband such a right! Has the Islamic trend reached that far? Is there really a draft law in this regard? Are there people thinking in this manner?’

Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the man blamed for organising the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, may have to think twice before he brazenly moves around in Pakistan and delivers hate speeches against America and India. The United States has offered a $10 million reward for the militant leader who makes frequent public appearances in Pakistan.

Under a scheme called Rewards for Justice, the United States pays out bounties for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a named suspect. American bounties have helped in breaking the ranks of terrorist organisations and led to the capture of terror leaders. India, too, has its list of most wanted terrorists.

Dawood Ibrahim

The don of Mumbai and India’s most wanted man. Dawood, and his brother Anis, allegedly masterminded India’s worst bombings, which killed at least 250 people and wounded more than 700 in Mumbai in 1993. The son of a police constable, Dawood runs a billion-dollar vice empire spanning gambling, drugs and prostitution. In October 2003, the United States designated Dawood as a global terrorist with links to Islamist militant groups al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba. His daughter is married to the son of legendary Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad. Dawood has not been seen in public for years–Indian authorities don’t even have a recent photograph of him–but he still runs his criminal empire.

Illyas Kashmiri

Kashmiri, labeled a “specially designated global terrorist” by the US, is suspected to have played a key role in training and arming the terrorists who attacked Mumbai in 2008. Kashmiri, an al-Qaeda member, was indicted in a US court in Chicago with American David Headley for allegedly plotting to attack a Danish newspaper that had published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Headley pleaded guilty over that plot and to scouting targets in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Kashmiri was reported killed in a US drone strike in northwestern Pakistan in June 2011.

Syed Salahuddin

He is commander of the Hizbul-Mujahideen, the biggest Kashmiri terrorist group and at the forefront of the terror campaign in Kashmir. He claims that he turned to militancy after he lost an election for the Kashmir legislative assembly in 1987, which he alleges was “massively rigged” by India. He lives in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and regularly lashes out against peace talks between New Delhi and Islamabad. The Hizbul has been crushed in Kashmir, and Salahuddin himself admitted this week that his group had beat a “tactical retreat”.

Maulana Masood Azhar

He came into the international spotlight in December 1999 when India was forced to free him from jail along with two other militants, in exchange for the release of crew and passengers of an Indian Airlines plane that had been hijacked from Kathmandu in Nepal and taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan. He became a leader of the Pakistani militant group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. In 1994 he was captured in Kashmir, and tried for terrorism. He spent six years in jail until he was sprung by the hijacking. Azhar formed Jaish-e-Mohammad in 2000 after returning to Pakistan. Jaish was banned by Pakistan, along with Lashkar-e-Taiba-and several other groups in 2002, and Azhar was put under house arrest, only to be freed by a Lahore court 10 months later.

Memon brothers, Ibrahim and Yakub

The Mumbai gangsters are accused of organising the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case. The brothers and their families are now believed to be in hiding in Pakistan. Ibrahim, aka Tiger Memon, was reported to be in Karachi in 2003. Black Friday, the movie based on journalist S Hussain Zaidi’s book, gives a glimpse into how the brothers carried out the 1993 blasts.

Chennai: A 42-year-old teacher was allegedly murdered by a 15-year-old class IX student at a private school in North Chennai because the student was apparently “angry” at the teacher for “scolding” him.

The teacher, Uma Maheshwari, who teaches science and Hindi at the St Mary’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, was found stabbed in her stomach with slash wounds on the throat inside the classroom.

The students in the school — located on Armenian Street in Parry’s Corner — saw the teacher in a pool of blood and informed the superiors.

News reports say the student walked in when the classroom was empty during post-period sessions and attacked her with a knife.

The teacher died from the wounds before she could be taken to a hospital.

Chennai, on Thursday bore witness to an unprecedented tragedy – a class 9 student stabbed to death his teacher in a Chennai schools for complaining to his parents about his poor academic performance. Student violence of this nature does not have too many precedents in India and many see in this as a reflection of the falling respect for teachers in the country.

Mohammed Irfan of St. Mary’s Anglo-Indian School killed Uma Maheswari, who taught Hindi and Science, in the classroom. The act was premeditated as he had smuggled a knife into the school for the purpose, said a visibly shaken Father A. Bosco, school administrator. Maheswari, a mother of two, raised an alarm when Irfan started stabbing her but before others could come to her rescue she bled to death. She was rushed to the Government General Hospital where doctors declared her dead.

While the event is tragic, many do not see it as unexpected, given the media attention given to the lapses of teachers in the recent past. “It is shocking, but it was expected to happen given the attitude of the parents and the media towards school teachers,” K.B. Sreevidya, education officer, Srimathi Sundaravalli Memorial School said.

“When we were in school our parents respected the teachers and did not get angry when our mistakes were pointed out and corrective actions were suggested. Caning of students was prevalent then and no parent complained against the teachers,” she added.

She said in contrast, teacher are nowadays hauled up in police stations for punishing the students and the media highlights the incidents, which emboldens the students further. Sreevidya added that the absence of moral instruction periods in school nowadays is also a factor for the indiscipline among students. According to her, disturbed students will avoid eye contact with teachers, and act very obediently, whereas an entirely opposite picture will be presented towards school/class mates.

Police in the Indian capital Delhi say they have arrested six people in connection with a series of countrywide attacks last year.

The men belong to the Indian Mujahideen group which has been blamed for dozens of bomb attacks throughout India, the police said.

A Pakistani man, suspected to have links to the outlawed radical group Jaish-e-Muhammad, is also being held.

Police say they are seeking another man in connection with the blasts.

The six men, who were detained in Delhi, Bihar and Chennai, are “all members of the Indian Mujahideen terror modules”, a statement issued by the Delhi police said.

The men were suspected of involvement in the attacks last year on a bakery in the western city of Pune, a stadium in the southern city of Bangalore and a shooting incident near Delhi’s Jama Masjid mosque, the statement said.

Rifles, cartridges, pistols and explosive material had been seized, it added.

The blast at the German bakery in Pune in February 2010 killed 17 people and injured 56. It was the first major bombing in India after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

At least eight people were injured when a bomb exploded outside a cricket stadium in Bangalore in April last year.

And two foreign tourists were injured after gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a bus near the Jama Masjid mosque, a popular tourist site, in Delhi last September.

The United States has put the Indian Mujahideen on its list of foreign terrorist organisations, saying that the group was responsible for dozens of bomb attacks throughout India in the last six years.

On the 3 years completion for the gruesome Jehadi Terror attack on Mumbai, VHP International Secretary General Dr Pravin Togadia has put forward some specific demands. While expressing oneness with the victims of Mumbai 26/11, Dr Togadia said, “From over 1000 years there have been such Jehadi attacks on Bharat. Now, when Bharat has a democratically elected govt, the responsibility of this govt does not end with running a dragged criminal case against Jehadi Terrorists & wait for the judiciary to act while many go scot-free due to vote bank politics. Rather than reacting after the Jehadi terror attacks again & again, the govt should approach this serious security threat to the nation in a three pronged way:

1. Although some sporadic arrests are made after each Jehadi terror attack in / on Bharat, the base networks behind the very indoctrination & the ensuing Jehadi attack are not busted. Until this is done, the Jehadi terror attacks will never stop. Therefore, those institutions preaching such thoughts should be banned as well as all modules & networks must be busted. Govt intelligence agencies do have all this information but due to vote bank politics govts do not even touch these networks.
2. The biggest blunder was to repeal POTA. It is cynical to say that the law can not prevent crime. It may not; but at least the perpetrators get severely punished without getting a chance to misuse Bharat’s liberal law process & democracy which they despise as per their indoctrination. Therefore, the law against Jehadi Terror which is stronger than POTA should be brought in immediately.
3. Mere existence of law does not protect nations. If that were so, there would not have been so many attacks on the Army & police in Kashmir . To implement the law against Jehadi Terror, there has to be an independent agency which is not controlled by vote-monger govts. Then & then only the real Jehadi Terrorists will be arrested & punished. Newly created semi political agencies like NIA whose only agenda is to send Hindus to jail never serve nation. There has to be a strong & independent expert agency for this.“

Dr Togadia further added, “If govt is serious about eradicating Jehadi Terror from Bharat, then it should first stop wooing minority for the votes. Rather than giving justice to victims of Jehadi Terror, govt is busy making new laws against the majority Hindus treating them as communal criminals & giving Jehadi Pakistan MFN status. This weak & power-greedy mentality & behaviour will end Bharat’s sovereignty & make Bharat an Islamic state as desired by the Jehadi groups.”

Dr Togadia appealed to all in Bharat to join him in his democratic peaceful movement ‘India Against Terror’ to make Bharat again a prosperous & peaceful nation – free of Jehadi Terror.
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The group from Sindh province came to India on a tourist visa, which has since expired, and does not want to return to their birthplace as they feel their future there will be in jeopardy.

Living in penury and with their visas having expired two months ago, the 27 families from a village in Matiari district near Hyderabad feel they will be secure in India.

Currently living in tents put up by an organisation in Majnu Ka Tilla in north Delhi, the old, the young and the children have only one appeal to the Indian government – extend visas and give them proper accommodation in the city.

Having got tourist visas after waiting for several years, the group of 140 people crossed over to the Indian side from Pakistan by foot on September 2 and reached the Capital two days later.

Ganga Ram, who is coordinating with the NGO, says they had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in this regard, but are yet to get a reply.

Making rotis in an open space surrounded by her family and friends at the camp, 20-year-old Jamuna said her decision to leave Pakistan would at least give her children a better life and education in a peaceful environment.

“There is no religious freedom in Pakistan. We (Hindus) were never allowed to study. We have always been targetted. We were waiting for the Indian visa so that we could come here and settle in Hindustan. We just don’t want to go back,” she told PTI as she served rotis to her family.

The 27 families have been provided with separate tents, blankets and groceries by Dera Baba Dhunni Dass to make both ends meet. Some youths in the group have started working too in nearby shops.

Jamuna, who went in and out of school, said the families have left their home, land, cattle and other articles behind with just a prayer in their mind that “Indian people would help us.”

40-year-old Chanderma summed up why they fled Pakistan.

“Children went to school but they were asked to sit separately. They were not even given water there,” she claimed, adding, “We did not want to live in an environment of fear. That is why we came here through a tourist visa.”

She says the community can take care of their expenses, but they want their visas to be extended and accommodation provided so that their children can resume their education.

The tale of 13-year-old Aarti would move anyone. She has never studied but learned Hindu mantras from her grand-parents and she teaches other kids in the camp when she finishes cooking meals for her family.

“I learnt the mantras and now I want even my young friends to know them. I bust my stress by teaching them whatever I learned from my grand-parents,” she said as her brother joined in.

He would not reveal his name, but asks why can’t they, despite being Hindus, can’t live in India. “There are thousands of Bangladeshis, Nepalis and Tibetans living in India. Why can’t we live here. The Government should make arrangements for us to carry on our life here,” he said.

“How can we live peacefully when every single day someone comes and asks us to get converted to Islam?” Aarti’s brother asks.

Sagar, who was a mechanic in his village in Pakistan, echoed his neighbour’s sentiments and says the tourist visa was the only way to get out of Pakistan.

“Some people in our village used to come and beat us up. They used to ransack our homes and take away things. Things never improved and would never. We now want a place to live. We can take care of ourselves. There is no problem in that,” he said.

The children, most of whom either dropped out of school or never went to one, have made open space outside their camps and spend their free time playing cricket and other games.

“We don’t want to go back. I am scared of going back. I want to be here only,” Amar, 12, says as he asks his friend to bowl.

Islamabad: Text books in Pakistani schools foster prejudice and intolerance of Hindus and other religious minorities, while most teachers view non-Muslims as “enemies of Islam,” according to a study by a U.S. government commission released Wednesday.

The findings indicate how deeply ingrained hardline Islam is in Pakistan and help explain why militancy is often supported, tolerated or excused in the country.

“Teaching discrimination increases the likelihood that violent religious extremism in Pakistan will continue to grow, weakening religious freedom, national and regional stability, and global security,” said Leonard Leo, the chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Pakistan was created in 1947 as a homeland for the Muslims of South Asia and was initially envisaged as a moderate state where minorities would have full rights. But three wars with mostly Hindu India; state support for militants fighting Soviet-rule in Afghanistan in the 1980s; and the appeasement of hardline clerics by weak governments seeking legitimacy have led to a steady radicalization of society.

Religious minorities and those brave enough to speak out against intolerance have often been killed, seemingly with impunity, by militant sympathizers. The commission warned that any significant efforts to combat religious discrimination, especially in education, would “likely face strong opposition” from hardliners.

The study reviewed more than 100 textbooks from grades 1-10 from Pakistan’s four provinces. Researchers in February this year visited 37 public schools, interviewing 277 students and teachers, and 19 madrases, where they interviewed 226 students and teachers.

The Islamization of textbooks began under the U.S.-backed rule of army dictator Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, who courted Islamists to support his rule. In 2006, the government announced plans to reform the curriculum to address the problematic content, but that has not been done, the study said.

Pakistan’s Islamist and right-wing polity would likely oppose any efforts to change the curriculum, and the government has shown no desire to challenge them on the issue.

The report found systematic negative portrayals of minorities, especially Hindus and, to a lesser extent, Christians. Hindus make up more than 1 percent of Pakistan’s 180 million people, while Christians represent around 2 percent. Some estimates put the numbers higher.

There are also even smaller populations of Sikhs and Buddhists.

“Religious minorities are often portrayed as inferior or second-class citizens who have been granted limited rights and privileges by generous Pakistani Muslims, for which they should be grateful,” the report said. “Hindus are repeatedly described as extremists and eternal enemies of Islam whose culture and society is based on injustice and cruelty, while Islam delivers a message of peace and brotherhood, concepts portrayed as alien to the Hindu.”

The books don’t contain many specific references to Christians, but those that “that do exist seem generally negative, painting an incomplete picture of the largest religious minority in Pakistan,” the report said.

Attempts to reach Pakistan’s education minister were not successful.

The textbooks make very little reference to the role played by Hindus, Sikhs and Christians in the cultural, military and civic life of Pakistan, meaning a “a young minority student will thus not find many examples of educated religious minorities in their own textbooks,” the report said.

“In most cases historic revisionism seems designed to exonerate or glorify Islamic civilization, or to denigrate the civilizations of religious minorities,” the report said. “Basic changes to the texts would be needed to present a history free of false or unsubstantiated claims which convey religious bias.”

The researchers also found that the books foster a sense that Pakistan’s Islamic identity is under constant threat.

“The anti-Islamic forces are always trying to finish the Islamic domination of the world,” read one passage from a social studies text being taught to Grade 4 students in Punjab province, the country’s most populated. “This can cause danger for the very existence of Islam. Today, the defense of Pakistan and Islam is very much in need.”

The report states that Islamic teachings and references were commonplace in compulsory text books, not just religious ones, meaning Pakistan’s Christians, Hindus and other minorities were being taught Islamic content. It said this appeared to violate Pakistan’s constitution, which states that students should not have to receive instruction in a religion other than their own.

The attitudes of the teachers no doubt reflect the general intolerance in Pakistan – a 2011 Pew Research Center study found the country the third most intolerant in the world – but because of the influence they have, they are especially worrisome.

Their views were frequently nuanced and sometimes contradictory, according to the study. While many advocated respectful treatment of religious minorities, this was conditional upon the attitudes of the minorities, “which appeared to be in question,” the report said. The desire to proselytize was cited as one of the main motivations for kind treatment.

According to the study, more than half the public school teachers acknowledged the citizenship of religious minorities, but a majority expressed the opinion that religious minorities must not be allowed to hold positions of power, in order to protect Pakistan and Muslims. While many expressed the importance of respecting the practices of religious minorities, simultaneously 80 percent of teachers viewed non-Muslims, in some form or another, as “enemies of Islam.”

Islam Islamabad: The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has condemned the alleged forced conversion of a young Pakistani Hindu woman to Islam, stating such a “malicious campaign is in full swing” in the country.

The woman named Anita, wife of Suresh Kumar and a mother of two children, was allegedly kidnapped April 27 from her house in Moro in Sindh province.

Her husband was not at home and the two children, a boy of four years and a girl of 22 months were beaten up and locked inside the house. The police later said Anita must have run away on her own as her character “would be like that”, said a statement from the AHRC.

The statement said the abductor’s lawyer produced a Muslim marriage certificate in a court, and the latter announced that she had embraced Islam by marrying a Muslim man.

Forced conversion of Hindu women to Islam in Sindh province has become very common, it said.

“The malicious campaign is in full swing by the religious seminaries, and their modus operandi is to use students of the seminaries to abduct young women and rape them in captivity. And when it is identified that the girl has been abducted, they announce that the victim is married and has embraced Islam.”

“If her embracement to Islam through abduction and rape was recognised by the courts and courts were happy to see her as converting to Islam, then why have the courts not seen the fundamental requirements of Islam? May be laws are different for different occasions or may be Hindus are not treated as citizens of Pakistan,” it said.

“The way in which the case of Anita was treated in the High and Supreme Court was no more different from the ordinary jirga or panchayat, where the elders of tribes sit down and decide the case on the basis of personal liking or disliking.”

The AHRC, based in Hong Kong, was founded in 1986. It is an independent, non-governmental body, which seeks to promote awareness of human rights in Asia.

Vicky Nanjappa reports on how Kerala, populary known as God’s own country, is now a haven for hawala transactions and the perfect breeding ground for terrorists

According to the Union home ministry, the annual remittance through hawala channels into Kerala is a whopping Rs 20,000 crore. This figure tells the story of a state, which has today become a hub for extremists.